MCE NEWS ARTICLE - 2018

Round 11 - Silverstone - MCE Insurance British Superbikes

Round 11 of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship saw teams and riders head to the home of British Motorsport, Silverstone, for the second round of the showdown. After Alex's exclusion from race 2 at Assen after the incident with Shane 'Shakey' Byrne where he knocked him off the championship standings could not have been closer. Shakey led Lowes by just one point. James Ellison had work to do after a DNF at Assen leaving him behind on points but still in contention with the top two. Josh Brookes also had work to do as he crashed out in Assen meaning he needed serious points this weekend to keep his title chances alive. Ryuichi Kiyonari also had points to make up but it was announced in the run up to Silverstone that he would not be taking part due to a shoulder injury picked up in training, the 3 times champ is now out of the running. James Westmoreland who has already said he's not chasing the title aimed to race the best he could and try and get himself that first ever MCE BSB podium. The internationally renowned Silverstone was set to be a pivotal round in the showdown as it would set up the true title fighters in the run up to the final triple header at Brands Hatch. Here's how things looked from my visor...

Qualifying

Shakey had a nightmare in FP3 where he massively high sided injuring his back and legs, he was left on crutches for qualifying and had to helped on and off the bike. That being said he still performed. Q1 kicked off and it was the Lowes, Shakey (even with his injury) Ellison, Brookes and Westmoreland topping the times. Matteo Baiocco on the Rapido Sport Ducati was running well as was Josh Waters on his new ride at Halsall Racing. The drops from Q1 were Freddie Foray (Kiyo's stand in) De Boer, Burrell, Zanotti, Jessopp, Tinmouth (had an off, she was ok), Mainwaring, Poole and Cappella. Q2 saw Ellison crash out before posting a time meaning he would start from 18th on the grid, not good for his title chances. Lowes was running fastest again with Baiocco once again impressing. PJ Jacobsen on the Tyco Suzuki was also having a good weekend and kept posting faster times than his teammate. The drops from Q2 were Haga, Rutter, Linfoot, Walker, Waters, Harris, Costello and Ellison. So Shakey had scraped through till Q3 and now was his moment to shine. He posted an excellent time through the pain which placed him second on the grid behind Lowes on the Samsung Honda. Here's how they lined up after those two - Jacobsen, Brookes, Kirkham, Hickman, Baiocco, Bridewell, Westmoreland and Smrz.

Race 1

Race 1 was a go and the injured Shakey streamed into the lead initially. It wasn't long though before he was passed by Lowes and Brookes. Way down in 18th on the grid James Ellison did a fantastic job in the early laps of moving up the places, he lay in 9th by lap 3. Dan Linfoot and Nori Haga had a coming together and took each other out of the race. PJ who started from 3rd on the grid was under serious pressure from Tommy Bridewell on the Milwaukee Yamaha and Shakey had got back past Brookes and into second. Then out of nowhere a huge blow to Brookes' title chances when his Tyco Suzuki ground to a halt, he was out of the race with zero points to show for it. His teammate PJ was bumped up into 3rd whilst still being dogged by Bridewell. Ellison had now moved himself past Hickman, Kirkham and Westy and into 5th. The front pack was a long way off though but it was only mid point in the race and may have had time to make the gap up. Bridewell and PJ continued to scrap until finally Tommy found a way through on the pint sized American. Things stayed much the same for the next few laps until the last when Shakey began to make his moves. Him and Alex swapped places a number of times with Alex eventually winning out and crossing the line first.

Race 1 Results

Alex LOWES - Samsung Honda

Shane BYRNE - Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki

Tommy BRIDEWELL - Milwaukee Yamaha

PJ JACOBSEN - Tyco Suzuki

James ELLISON - Milwaukee Yamaha

Jon KIRKHAM - Buildbase BMW

Peter HICKMAN - GBmoto Racing Honda

James WESTMORELAND - Buildbase BMW

Matteo BAIOCCO - Rapido Sport Racing Ducati

Barry BURRELL - Quattro Plant Kawasaki

Race 2

It was a similar story in race 2 with Shakey speeding off the line and taking the initial lead. He was followed by both Tyco Suzukis and both Milwaukee Yamahas respectively. Within a few corners though a certain Alex Lowes had flown past everyone and taken the lead. Pete Hickman who was having a good time up until this point, crashed out ending his weekend. Shakey then retook the lead from Alex with Brookes following close behind; he seemed to have more fire in him after race 1. But even he couldn't keep Tommy Bridewell at bay; the Milwaukee rider punched by him and then started making moves on Lowes. Brookes really needed to hold onto his position. Lap 4 and Alex was back in the lead, Ellison back in 6th was pushing so hard that he nearly lost the back end, the bike began to wobble and Ellison came all the way off the thing but it started to grip again and he pulled himself back on somehow, it really was an amazing save. Now one is a title fighter and one is not but I don't think there are any team orders in the Tyco garage, PJ and Josh were having a serious battle. Lap 10 and Shakey was back in the lead ahead of Alex and Bridewell who was trying to keep up. PJ, Josh and Ellison were 3 seconds back. Before long Lowes was back past Shakey and Bridewell had started to drop off, the class of Lowes and Byrne is beyond the others, it has to be one of these two for the title. Ellison muscled his way past PJ splitting the Tycos and taking 5th. Once again Lowes and Shakey gave us a fantastic last lap but it seemed Shakey just couldn't get past him. Then on the final corner as they crossed the line he picked up a little bit more drive meaning he won the race by a tyres length.

Race 2 Results

Shane BYRNE - Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki

Alex LOWES - Samsung Honda

Tommy BRIDEWELL - Milwaukee Yamaha

James ELLISON - Milwaukee Yamaha

Josh BROOKES - Tyco Suzuki

PJ JACOBSEN - Tyco Suzuki

Jon KIRKHAM - Buildbase BMW

Matteo BAIOCCO - Rapido Sport Racing Ducati

James WESTMORELAND - Buildbase BMW

Jakub SMRZ- Padgetts Honda

Club MCE members who visited Silverstone had a great couple of days enjoying all sorts of benefits and experiences including, Official Pit Crew with Milwaukee Yamaha, grid walks, VIP hospitality, Pillion Laps (including some as sidecar passengers!) and Safety car laps to name a few. Some lucky Club members got to make use of the MCE Superview, watching the racing from pit wall and the podium. 'Hang out with a rider' took place with James Ellison on pit straight with some interesting insights into behind the scenes as he'd just got out of a riders meeting with the series directors. There was also an on track ride where Club MCE members got to take there motorbikes out on track behind Big Ed! A fantastic weekend had by all!

Next round we head for Brands Hatch GP for the final round of the showdown and the season. It's been an incredibly amazing season so far with drama all over the place. The showdown so far has been fantastic; literally anything could happen in this final triple header round! It all kicks off on the 18th of October. Keep up to date with Big Ed's Facebook for all the live updates, news and gossip around the paddock.

MCE Insurance Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), under firm reference number 307832. You can check this on the Financial Conduct Authority Register by visiting their website on www.fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register. We are also subject to limited regulation by the Central Bank of Ireland for conduct of business rule.